The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is the top selling gaming console of all time. More than 10 years after launch in early 2000, the company continues to sell the console even though it was succeeded by the PlayStation 3 (PS3) in 2006. Sony has gone on the public record that they will continue support for the PS2 life cycle until demand for the product ceases. A common question that arises for a fan of various PlayStation 2 titles is can you play PS2 games on PS3? How to Determine if the Read More

Snakebots are the next generation robotic probes that NASA is planning to develop in order to explore other worlds. Snakebots are named such because of their ability to move like biological snakes. Furthermore, they can change their shapes in order to accomplish different tasks such as digging under the soil, climbing over obstacles, moving around a different environment, etc. The body of a snakebot is composed of 30 identical modules linked together to form a chain. A central spine will act as the communication pathway between the modules and will Read More

The most common application for reading PDF files is the Adobe Reader, but it cannot edit PDF files the way it edits Word files. Free PDF editors are hard to come by and are mainly limited to free trials of applications being sold. There are a few options that may or may not serve well depending on the user’s needs. Free Full PDF Editors To get full PDF editing capabilities as opposed to annotation, the choice of completely free tools is rather limited. However, there are a few options to Read More

JBIG2 is a relatively new image compression standard that was first published as an international standard in 2000. It was a modern option for both lossless and lossy image compression. The standard is designed to compress images better than the traditional JBIG and Fax Group 4 standards previously implemented for bi-level or black and white images. JBIG2 compression reduces files to as small as one fifth of  the size of pictures saved under traditional formats. When black and white images are compressed with the JBIG2 algorithm, compression ratios can be Read More

An SD (Secure Digital) card is a portable storage device that stores data even when it is not powered. SD cards are very small and fit in many portable devices such as cameras, video game consoles, and cell phones. They can also be used with both desktop and laptop computers if the user purchases an SD card adapter. While SDSC (SD Standard Capacity) cards store up to 4 GB, there are also SDHC (SD High Capacity) and SDXC (SD eXtended Capacity) versions that store up to 32 GB and 2 Read More

Acrylonitrile is a highly flammable and toxic chemical that is used in the production of acrylic materials and other plastics. In its pure form, acrylonitrile is a colorless liquid but impurities can give it a yellow appearance. Acrylonitrile is soluble in water and most organic solvents, boils at 77.3 degrees Celsius, and melts at 82 degrees Celsius. Acrylonitrile polymerizes spontaneously when heated, although polymerization inhibitors are often used to prevent this. Acrylonitrile releases hydrogen cyanide and nitrous oxide when burned, and is widely investigated and disapproved of due to its Read More

Internet Explorer (IE) is the Microsoft produced web browser that is freely bundled with the Windows operating system. A common task that arises for users of Internet Explorer is zooming in on web pages that do not have font large enough to view. This capability is included with the web browser to greater enhance the accessibility of web pages to those who have difficulty with vision or just to cope with sites that do not provide an automatic scaling of the text or imagery included on a web page. The Read More

A thyristor is a solid state semiconductor device that consists of four alternating layers of N-type and P-type material. Many sources consider thyristors to be the same as Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCRs). In some cases they are defined as a large group of devices – the eligibility criterion being that the device should consist of a minimum of 4 layers of alternating N and P-type material. A thyristor functions as a bistable switch, which means that it starts conducting when its gate receives a pulse of current. It conducts until the Read More